back to part two
I have been exploring these food and health issues since last August and only recently have I fully grasped the depth of the problem. John Trudell, in his underground classic treatise, DNA:Descendants now Ancestors makes a great case for how quickly patterns,thoughts and behaviors can become part of our DNA. It only takes three generations to completely lose the generational memory and the cultural patterns. The boomers such as myself who still remember real food are desperately trying to pass that memory on to a generation who thinks food comes in a box.
As I stood at that gymnasium watching both basketball and the eating habits of the masses, I shared my observations with the superintendent (who was bringing his wife a hot dog and a Mountain Dew from the concession stand). He believes the entire culture has an eating disorder. I shared with him as I tried to recall my childhood eating patterns that we probably ate a fair amount of sugar and other junk but it was balanced out by healthy meals at home. We were fortunate to live in an area where we could hunt. Our meat was often deer and elk. We had space for a large garden. In the basement we had a root cellar full of seemingly endless rows of food my mother had canned. I felt grateful to have the cultural memory of meals at my grandmother's house which often included canned salmon, venison and sturgeon.
I date my career as a change agent as beginning when I was the features editor of my high school paper. I can say without bragging that I tripled the circulation of that paper within two months. This was mainly due to my uninhibited challenging of eventually every single aspect of that school. One thing I have discovered over the years and continue to rediscover is that whenever I begin a change process that change will happen often in spite of my doubts. Often small bits of change occur exactly when I need that reassurance the most.
At that particular school they have been selling doughnuts every Friday morning for over ten years. It became an institution, a cultural memory.I have been walking past obese children and their mothers buying doughnuts for years now. Of course I frequently voiced my objections and I was generally treated like a Grinch. I tried to point out that there were many healthy options for sweet treats but I was ignored and dismissed.
But one morning just recently I heard an announcement on the intercom that everybody should hurry and get a doughnut because this was the last day for doughnut sales. When I inquired about this, the athletic director replied that they were discontinuing doughnut sales because they weren't making any money! Energy goes where energy flows as one yogi always says. One small battle had been won without me.
Change happens in snapshots. Two junior girls have decided to start a small school garden to counteract the generally unhealthy diets and culture in that town. We were removing some sod just the other day when two snapshots of change occurred within an hour. The first happened when a bus driver came along and offered to both move all of a recent load of sheep manure into our garden space with the school tractor and allow us to use her personal rototiller to till it all in.
One of the "Garden Girls'" (that's the name we are working with although it has since become Garden Girls and Friends) lives next to the garden space and she frequently exploits this to get food or other things from her house. They wanted to get some sort of toaster treat. I asked about whether or not it was healthy food. One responded with a complete nutritional breakdown of the treat. And, is it turned out, it was healthy, sweet and tasty. It had whole wheat, fruit and very little sugar. It seems like they are paying attention. Semper Fi. Jeff
I have been exploring these food and health issues since last August and only recently have I fully grasped the depth of the problem. John Trudell, in his underground classic treatise, DNA:Descendants now Ancestors makes a great case for how quickly patterns,thoughts and behaviors can become part of our DNA. It only takes three generations to completely lose the generational memory and the cultural patterns. The boomers such as myself who still remember real food are desperately trying to pass that memory on to a generation who thinks food comes in a box.
As I stood at that gymnasium watching both basketball and the eating habits of the masses, I shared my observations with the superintendent (who was bringing his wife a hot dog and a Mountain Dew from the concession stand). He believes the entire culture has an eating disorder. I shared with him as I tried to recall my childhood eating patterns that we probably ate a fair amount of sugar and other junk but it was balanced out by healthy meals at home. We were fortunate to live in an area where we could hunt. Our meat was often deer and elk. We had space for a large garden. In the basement we had a root cellar full of seemingly endless rows of food my mother had canned. I felt grateful to have the cultural memory of meals at my grandmother's house which often included canned salmon, venison and sturgeon.
I date my career as a change agent as beginning when I was the features editor of my high school paper. I can say without bragging that I tripled the circulation of that paper within two months. This was mainly due to my uninhibited challenging of eventually every single aspect of that school. One thing I have discovered over the years and continue to rediscover is that whenever I begin a change process that change will happen often in spite of my doubts. Often small bits of change occur exactly when I need that reassurance the most.
At that particular school they have been selling doughnuts every Friday morning for over ten years. It became an institution, a cultural memory.I have been walking past obese children and their mothers buying doughnuts for years now. Of course I frequently voiced my objections and I was generally treated like a Grinch. I tried to point out that there were many healthy options for sweet treats but I was ignored and dismissed.
But one morning just recently I heard an announcement on the intercom that everybody should hurry and get a doughnut because this was the last day for doughnut sales. When I inquired about this, the athletic director replied that they were discontinuing doughnut sales because they weren't making any money! Energy goes where energy flows as one yogi always says. One small battle had been won without me.
Change happens in snapshots. Two junior girls have decided to start a small school garden to counteract the generally unhealthy diets and culture in that town. We were removing some sod just the other day when two snapshots of change occurred within an hour. The first happened when a bus driver came along and offered to both move all of a recent load of sheep manure into our garden space with the school tractor and allow us to use her personal rototiller to till it all in.
One of the "Garden Girls'" (that's the name we are working with although it has since become Garden Girls and Friends) lives next to the garden space and she frequently exploits this to get food or other things from her house. They wanted to get some sort of toaster treat. I asked about whether or not it was healthy food. One responded with a complete nutritional breakdown of the treat. And, is it turned out, it was healthy, sweet and tasty. It had whole wheat, fruit and very little sugar. It seems like they are paying attention. Semper Fi. Jeff
Parents and teachers interested in getting kids to develop a friendly attitude towards fruits and vegetables should take a look at new book called “The ABC’s of Fruits and Vegetables and Beyond.” Bought in quantity for class use. Suitable for kids of all ages as it is two books in one – children first learn their alphabet through produce poems and then go on to hundreds of related activities. It is coauthored by best-selling food writer David Goldbeck and Jim Henson writer Steve Charney. More at http://www.healthyhighways.com
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